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    India to take 'calibrated' call on Huawei soon, no compromise on security: Telecom Secy

    Synopsis

    Telecom Secretary said that DoT is keeping an eye on global developments regarding Huawei.

    ET Bureau
    The Indian government will take a “calibrated" decision very soon on whether to allow Chinese equipment maker Huawei for 5G development in the country, without compromising on security, a top official has said.

    Speaking to reporters on Thursday, telecom secretary Aruna Sundararajan said the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is keeping an eye on global developments regarding Huawei and will allow partnering with companies for 5G roll-outs only after ensuring that there is no compromise on security.

    “It will be a calibrated decision, we will ensure all security certification and there will be no compromise on security. But, equally, we will drive a hard bargain to ensure that Indian startups are included,” said Sundararajan. “India is engaged with global vendors and India is also keeping track of the global developments in this regard.”

    The telecom secretary’s comments come on the back of a global uproar over security concerns flagged by the US over the Chinese vendor. India, on the cusp of launching 5G, is still on the fence as far as Huawei is concerned.

    In fact, industry bodies like Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which represents all private telcos, has repeatedly asked the DoT to take an immediate decision to avoid a scenario where telcos order their equipment from a vendor only to be informed later that the vendor is banned. The concerns also include the fact that barring Huawei would leave only two European vendors—Ericsson and Nokia—which could disrupt the demand-supply situation and lead to price disruption.

    Huawei has also called upon India to take a speedy call on its 5G participation in the country.

    “We will take a decision very soon, the committee - under Principal Scientific Advisor – will give its recommendations very soon,” an official said, adding that the decision will be in India's interest, keeping in view India's capabilities, commercial, geo-political and strategic considerations, but without compromising on security requirements.

    The government wants to hold 5G trials within the first 100 days, therefore a decision on the issue will have to be taken soon. The government also wants to integrate Indian standards, IPRs and Indian standard essential patents into 5G going forward.

    ET had reported this week that the looming uncertainty over Huawei had forced Bharti Airteland Vodafone Idea to initiate talks with Korean firm Samsung for supplying equipment for their 4G and 5G networks. The two largest telcos needed to do this because till now they worked with Huawei along with Ericsson and Nokia and did not want their supply hit in case of a government ban. Samsung, on the other hand, works only with Reliance Jio in India.

    The demand for clarity comes at a time when the government plans to auction its 5G spectrum within this calendar year and there is a close chase between the three telcos on 4G expansion.

    The telecom secretary also emphasised the need to build 5G platform on Indian capabilities and have more Indian startups on board.

    “We believe that this is a huge opportunity for Indian capabilities to create a platform for 5G on Indian capabilities. Just like we have the India stack on the IT side, we believe that it is possible to create a telecom stack. So, whichever OEM (original equipment manufacturer) we partner with, one of the key considerations will be to see who will give us the best deal for Indian startups, Indian ideas and Indian standard essential patents going forward,” said Sundararajan.

    A stack can be defined as different technologies grouped together, which can be used to enhance and market the products available in the sector.


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